Is Ube safe?
Japan · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Ube is a city in Japan, home to about 144k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 73 of 6,168, with a safety score of 91.4 out of 100, which puts it in the top band of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 119 · Fire 119 · Police 110
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Japan are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Ube really?
No published homicide figure exists for Ube itself, so the national rate stands in: Japan recorded 0.2 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - well below the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Japan's income inequality is middling (Gini 32.3) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Japan at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2025-05-14). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Japan without any avoid-travel warning in force. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Japan
Terrorism in Japan · Japan and the Korean Peninsula · Protecting your belongings · Rape and sexual assault · Drink spiking and credit card fraud · Illegal drugs · Disputes over bar bills · Prostitution and street touts · Legal system in Japan · Personal ID · Alcohol bans · Smoking in public places · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · +12 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Japan — country-level, not specific to Ube. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 0.2 /100knational rate, 2024
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 32.3country, 2020
- Human development
- HDI 0.925country, 2023
- Income
- $58,920/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 144kurban centre · 1,919/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 3.6 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 85/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 83/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 71/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 2.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.87Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 11.5 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 99%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 2.6 doctors /1k12.6 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in Japan
- Tsunami
- 10.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Earthquake
- 9.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 9.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 7.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Japan as a whole, not Ube specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Japan (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Japan; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Ube that gives 91.4/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Ube compared with Kitakyushu
| Measure | Ube | Kitakyushu | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 91.4 | 91.4 | ±0.0 |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 0.2 /100k | 0.2 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Japan, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Kitakyushu →
Nearby cities
See Ube on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →